Unique Environmental Features

Energy Conservation

The previous Region 7 Office building in Kansas City, Kansas, was awarded the ENERGY STAR® in 2008 with a score of 76, in 2010 with a score of 82, and in 2011 with a score of 81.

Installation of a small chiller, completed in December 2001, served 24 hour-a-day loads such as the computer room and allowed the two large main chillers to shut down at night, on weekends, and during the winter (when overall building cooling needs were low). Large chillers operating at low loads operated inefficiently. The addition of the pony chiller reduced energy use by at least 10 percent.

All occupied spaces contained motion sensors that controlled general lighting, while timers controlled the exterior lighting, conserving energy throughout the building.

In October 2004, EPA began a three-year contract to purchase green power in the form of RECs for the previous Region 7 Office. The purchase, which represented 100 percent of the facility's electricity use, helped support the annual generation of 4.45 million kilowatt hours (kWh) from the Gray County Wind Farm near Montezuma, Kansas.

Green Building

For building materials, recycled content products were used wherever possible.
For example, foundation materials containing fly ash (a byproduct of coal
combustion) were used throughout construction. In addition, nearly all the
interior finishes were made with recycled or environmentally preferable content. The
ceramic tiles, for example, were made from more than 70 percent postindustrial
recycled waste glass, while the carpet consisted of 25 percent recycled
material.

Water Conservation

As part of EPA's Green Rider for the Kansas City Region 7 Office, water
was conserved through high-efficiency faucets, urinals, and toilets. To learn more,
please see the Kansas City Regional Office
Green Rider.

Water use at the Kansas City Region 7 Office was cut by 62 percent
(or 830,000 gallons per year) as a result of the installation of a water
softener in FY 2003. The softener reduced the hardness of the water before it reached
the cooling tower, preventing scale deposits from building up, and therefore
reducing the need for flushing and draining. During a typical summer, this reduced cooling tower water use by 5,700 gallons of water
per day.

Other Features

Built on a brownfield site, the Kansas City, Kansas, building was designed
to reflect a transition from residential neighborhoods to a commercial district.
In addition, the building featured many award-winning design attributes, including
a four-story, light-filled atrium that provided natural lighting for most
of the office space.

EPA obtained an Economic Development Rate Rider, which offered a 5-year, stepped discount on the cost of electric service and resulted in an estimated energy and maintenance cost savings of $1.2 million during the 10-year EPA lease.

For More Information About This Facility

Off the Shelf (PDF) (27 pp, 4.7MB, About PDF).
This publication provides more information on the previous Region 7 Office in Kansas City, Kansas. Disclaimer: This publication was prepared by various members
of the Kansas City EPA Regional Headquarters building team, including EPA
staff, U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) staff, and the building
developer's staff. This is not an official EPA publication. Small changes
have been made to the original publication (and have been marked) to reflect
more current information. This document also includes references to specific
products and companies that assisted EPA and GSA with the project. These references
are included to provide additional detail and do not constitute endorsement
or recommendation for use.